Newt Gingrich has been picking up some political endorsements of late, in a state that leans heavily to the left, and despite an establishment Republican party that has thrown their weight behind Mitt Romney.

A Long Island source called in to report that GOP circles are abuzz with news of phone calls received this week from former Rep. John Sweeney, who is trying to put together a slate of New York convention delegates for presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich.

Numerous Suffolk and Nassau County electeds, donors, and former officials have received calls from Sweeney, who served in the House from 1999 to 2007, arriving just as Gingrich was ending his tenure there.

Sweeney’s efforts on behalf of Gingrich puts him at odds with most of the Republican establishment in New York, which is backing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, not to mention his former colleagues in the Pataki administration, who are very pro-Romney (Pataki’s longtime political aide, Rob Cole, worked on Romney I in 2008 and is also on this campaign).

Additionally, Carl Paladino who proved he knows a thing or two about pulling off upsets, by shocking the establishment GOP in defeating Rick Lazio in the Republican primary in 2010, is also voicing support for Gingrich.

Buffalo businessman and 2010 GOP gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino has said he plans to be a Gingrich delegate when the Republicans gather at the convention in Tampa, Florida this August.

A list of delegates is required to be submitted to the Board of Elections by February 21st.